Anybody else receive a 'Power Up' newsletter from eBay ?

wolfbear

I didn't request one of these and I'm not a 'power seller',
but they sent me the Sports Memorabilia Edition.

WTF ? They have charts and tables of all my sales from last August thru January printed in it.

Just seems kind of weird ...

yawie99

I also received one even though I'm not a Power Seller. And I too thought it was kind of weird.

CON40

eBay is just greasing the skids to make all your sales information readily available to the IRS... they'd never admit it, but internet sales tax will be here within 2 years and I bet this is eBay's subtle message to get ready.

bengineno9

I agree. Kinda scary to get with all those statistics and graphs.

Cubfan

Add me to the list. It was the first time I had ever received this as well.




Keith

koby

Just in time for last minute tax preparers

phreakydancin

<< <i>eBay is just greasing the skids to make all your sales information readily available to the IRS... they'd never admit it, but internet sales tax will be here within 2 years and I bet this is eBay's subtle message to get ready. >>



That's insane! Are they going to start taxing garage sales too?

CON40

phreaky;

Insane?

I don't know what country you reside in, but in the good ol' US, you are supposed to claim the income from your garage sale and pay the tax!!!

jaybyrd

I paid the taxes when I purchased the item originally. I sure ain't telling the IRS about any profit made from a garage sale! If I purchased the item for $100, I probably sold for $8.99. Until they make me report this info I am keeping my mouth shut.

Stone193

Income Tax:


<< <i> don't know what country you reside in, but in the good ol' US, you are supposed to claim the income from your garage sale and pay the tax!!! >>


Keith
I think you got something there. I would guess two major groups are eye-balling Ebay - the income tax people AND the sales tax people. This may be the Biggest sleepy dog on the planet.
Mike

CON40

I'm glad someone out there agrees with me! Clinton wanted it 5 years ago... Bush has held tight so far, but if he keeps bleeding money on wars and Medicare... then what? Plus, all the states are broke and would love to stick their greedy fingers into this big, fat pie of cash!

Already, I try to sell my cards on this forum, and if on eBay, I use no PayPal (for lotsa reasons) to leave a record in some third party's hands that will oblige the Feds and states when they come calling for my "file"... the records are there! These email newletters prove it.

I feel bad for the guys who make a living on eBay (like DSL and 4_corners) they are going to take a bath on this one day -- soon!

nearmint

The government wouldn't consider proceeds from a garage sale income, since you're most likely selling everything for less than what you paid for it. If you sell something at a loss, there's no income to tax. In places that charge sales tax, though, you're probably technically supposed to get a sales tax license, then collect the tax and give it to your local/state government. I'd guess that most local jurisdictions wouldn't bother trying to enforce sales tax for garage sales, though, and I know that in some places you can get an official waiver for a 1-2 day event.

Likewise, if you're buying and selling cards on the internet, you don't have to claim income unless you're making money at it. If you live in a state with sales tax, however, you're supposed to collect sales tax from any customers who live in your state. If you sell to someone in another state that has sales tax, the buyer is technically supposed to pay sales tax in his state for the item. Few buyers do this, of course, so states lose out on a lot of sales tax revenue. So an internet sales tax would not be a new tax, it would just be a way of collecting what people are supposed to pay already.

Mike

CON40

Mike;

You are correct on all counts... but I am sensitive because I live in Taxachusetts...

But the internet sales tax is scarier than you portray because the proposition is for a National Sales Tax! This means all internet sales would be taxable (probably eventually at both national and state levels)... I don't know the details per se, but I do know it would place a huge tax burden on internet commerce and it is coming. Bush's moratorium on the proposal will run out in the very near future (probably the day after elections!).

And the IRS and state Dept's of Revenue like nothing more than a concrete paper trail to nail citizens on tax owed on undeclared income or sales. If eBay is sharing sales charts with sellers, they are one step away from sharing it with tax revenue authorities at any level.

envoy98

I just obtained a sales tax license in MN, on the advice of the local show promoters who I do shows with. They were both hit up recently by the local sales tax cronies (MN Dept. Of Revenue) and they were asking for the names and sales tax id's of the dealers. They both said this was the first time in 15 years that either of them had ever been asked but both told me to get a sales tax id if I planned on being an exhibitor at their shows much longer.

So based on that request, I went down to the local Dept of Revenue and asked for a form. Turns out you can do it over the phone. I asked the lady what I specifically needed to report, your state's laws may vary but I would suspect this is pretty general.

1. An "occassional seller" does not need to report or file income tax. The question lies in the "occassional" part of this statement. The reason a garage sale is not taxed is not because of the value or the profit/loss but rather that you would probably only do a sale once per year at most and the income for the state, at least at this point, is not substantial enough to warrant you filing. Though I am sure the state would love to extend it's fingers into your pockets if you offered up the sales tax.

2. Exhibitors at trade shows must collect sales tax if the show is in the state in which they reside. (This excludes the occassional sellers) this means at the Tri-Star show in KC I don't have to collect/report any sales tax. Yippee.

3. Internet sales are subject to sales tax if you ship the item to someone in your state. For example, on ebay if I sell a $100 card to someone in MN I am supposed to collect 6.5% and remit to the state, however, if that person lives, or has me ship the card, to another state, it is exempt. .... Until there is a some sort of national sales tax that is.

What really sucks for me now is that I just found out about this, so I have to go back through my paperwork and see what I sold in the first 4 or 5 shows this year so I know about how much tax to remit. Problem is at shows, you can't charge people tax so you kind of have to build it in. Now I just know that a $20 card gets 1.30 in tax right off the top, have to keep that in mind when you're swinging the deals.

Like I said, in other states this may be different but in MN they said more than 2 shows a year was enough to disqualify me from the "occassional seller" exemption.

Oh yeah, and if you're main source, or a large portion of your income is garnered by way of interenet sales, you are "supposed" to report that as income. This however is separate from the sales tax issue though. This would be subject to income tax, a far more ferocious monster. This is where the "I sold it for less than I paid, and my expenses incurred for listing/final value/paypal fees will offset this much etc etc... I wouldn't be one bit surprised to find out paypal and ebay are doing that.

nearmint

You're right, CON40, a National Sales Tax would certainly be something new, and it's not a proposal I know much about. If it partially takes the place of income tax, it might not be a bad thing: if you tax spending, perhaps people will save more.

I don't think that making sales info available to the IRS is a bad thing, either. Being self-employed now, I can see that you're largely on your honor to claim income when you have your own business, and of course not everyone is honorable.

Hard to believe I'm defending taxes when I owe Uncle Sam money! How'd we get on this topic, anyway? Wolfbear, did you start this?

Mike

jparchitectus

I have the official paperwork from my accountant. You now have to claim ebay puraches on your taxes. Since they are
not taxed you must claim a minimum...Good thing I spent all my profits on other cards. My sales and purchases where a wash
so I think I am in the clear so they say.

I also got the stats in the mail and a silver upgrade.

jaybyrd

I don't do much selling on e-bay, but this thread makes me want to puke. I'm sure we should have seen it coming, but having the gov't do all they can to have their hand in your pocket gets very annoying.